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Jason Spezza, who spent his entire 11-year career making life difficult for the Buffalo Sabres with the Ottawa Senators, has requested to be traded.

Bryan Murray announced the news Wednesday after the general manager's meeting and says that he plans to grant his request, despite his desire to keep the 30-year-old captain.

"I don't want to trade the guy, really, and I know I won't get the value, in all likelihood, that I should get for him," Murray told NHL.com. "But I think that Jason feels maybe there's a change that he would like to have happen, and if that's the case we'll try to do what we can."

While it would be easy to put Buffalo in the running for Spezza's services, with Tim Murray at the helm of the organization and the team's need to get to the salary cap floor, the scenario would be unlikely. Ottawa has had a tough time getting over the hum themselves, and Spezza would likely want to end up with a playoff contender, not a team in full rebuilding mode like the Sabres.

Still, the thought of Spezza leaving Ottawa must give Sabres fans a tingly feeling inside. Spezza has burned Buffalo in plenty of situations. He and former teammate Daniel Alfredsson enjoyed bullying the Sabres in their fair share of meetings.

Actual trade partners for Ottawa have yet to be identified, as it is too early to tell.

"It'll probably be another few weeks, at least, before anything comes down that might be a worthwhile trade [to talk] about," Murray told NHL.com.

Murray also told NHL.com that the return on Spezza must include a player that has already established himself in the NHL.